For your writing assignment, choose a quotation from the list below and answer the question or questions given about this quotation. To support your answer, analyze important scenes and other important quotations from elsewhere in the text.

1. "There lived in Westphalia…a young man on whom nature had bestowed the perfection of gentle manners. His features admirably expressed his soul; he combined an honest mind with great simplicity of heart; and I think it was for this reason that they called him Candide" (521).

Is Voltaire speaking seriously or ironically? Choose one; don't say both. How do you know? What are the implications for Voltaire's message?

TIP: Don't forget to examine what Candide says when explaining to Cacambo why they should leave Eldorado, on page 553.

2. "Candide listened attentively and believed implicitly; for he found Miss Cunegonde exceedingly pretty…He decided that after the happiness of being born Baron of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh, the second order of happiness was to be Miss Cunegonde; the third was seeing her every day, and the fourth was listening to Master Pangloss, the greatest philosopher in the province and consequently in the world" (522).

It's clear from the story as a whole that Voltaire hates ignorance. A more interesting question is this one: Does he think it's possible for man to overcome his ignorance through any kind of education society has yet devised? If so, how? If not, what would help man overcome his ignorance? And when mankind was finally educated, what would he know that he doesn't know now? TIP: One way to answer this question might be to contrast the character of Cacambo to the character of Martin and Pococurante.

3. "One fine spring morning he took it into his head to go for a walk, stepping straight out as if it were a privilege of the human race, as of animals in general, to use his legs as he chose. He had scarcely covered two leagues when four other heroes, each six feet tall, overtook him, bound him, and threw him into a dungeon" (524).

Does Voltaire think society could be improved--that is, that the world would become a better place--if individuals had more personal freedom? Why or why not? TIP: Don't forget that the problem with individual liberty is that it's not restricted to nice people.

4. "A man who had never been baptized…saw this cruel and heartless treatment being inflicted on one of his fellow creatures, a featherless biped possessing a soul; he took Candide home with him" (525-6).

What do you think Voltaire meant by calling man a "featherless biped possessing a soul"? In particular, when he said that man had a soul, was he serious, or was he speaking ironically? TIP: Does having a soul have anything to do with having a religion? Maybe you should separate the two.

5. "He asked about the cause and effect, the sufficient reason, which had reduced Pangloss to his present pitiful state. -Alas, said he, it was love; love, the consolation of the human race, the preservative of the universe, the soul of all sensitive beings, love, gentle love. -Unhappy man, said Candide, I too have had some experience of this love, the sovereign of hearts, the soul of our souls; and it never got me anything but a single kiss and twenty kicks in the rear. How could this lovely cause produce in you such a disgusting effect?" (527).

What did Voltaire think a person usually meant when he or she said "I love you" to someone else? What did Voltaire think "true love" would be? Did he think there was such a thing? Why or why not?

6. Consider Pangloss's reply to the question above (page 527). Why did Voltaire trace the course of this sexually-transmitted disease? Considering who gave it to whom, what are the implications?
7. Consider the words of Jacques the Anabaptist on page 528: "Men have corrupted Nature, for they are not born wolves, yet that is what they become. God gave them neither twenty-four-pound cannon nor bayonets, yet they have manufactured both in order to destroy themselves."

Compare this quotation to the more famous one from Martin on page 560, the one that compares men to hawks. Does Voltaire side with Jacques or with Martin in the debate on human nature? How do you know?

8. "-Bloody hell, said the other, I'm a sailor, born in Batavia; I've been four times to Japan and stamped four times on the crucifix; get out of here with your universal reason" (529).

Are the sailor's views the same as Voltaire's? Explain.

9. "Though a person of honor may be raped once, her virtue is only strengthened by the experience" (533).

Does Voltaire agree with these words of Cunegonde? Why or why not? (Assume that the comment may be generalized to refer not only to rape, but to other forms of physical and psychological abuse as well, so that the question is really "According to Voltaire, what effect does mistreatment by others have on human character?") TIP:

Compare this quotation to the words of the Italian eunuch to the old woman on page 539: "I was born at Naples…where they caponize two or three thousand children every year; some die of it, others acquire a voice more beautiful than any woman's, still others go on to become governors of kingdoms."

10. "I have so far been able to hold them both off; and that, I think, is why they are both still in love with me" (533).

What is Cunegonde's point about the nature of romantic love? Does Voltaire think she's right? And does he think this principle extends to all human relationships? TIP: Take a look at Candide's comment about Eldorado on page 553.

11. "Frantic, exhausted, half out of my senses, and ready to die of weakness, I felt as if my mind were choked with the massacre of my father, my mother, my brother, with the arrogance of that ugly Bulgar soldier, with the knife slash he inflicted on me, my slavery, my cookery, my Bulgar captain, my nasty Don Issachar, my abominable inquisitor, with the hanging of Doctor Pangloss, with the great plainsong miserere which they sang while they flogged you--and above all, my mind was full of the kiss which I gave you behind the screen, on the day when I saw you for the last time" (533-4).

By implication, Cunegonde is advancing a theory about what kinds of events preoccupy us and shape our expectations, values, and goals. Does Voltaire think she's right? And if so, does he think the theory offers us good news or bad news about human nature? TIP: Compare this quotation to Voltaire's remarks about Candide at the top of page 558: "When he thought of the wealth that remained in his hands, and when he talked of Cunegonde, especially just after a good dinner, he still inclined to the system of Pangloss."

12. "A hundred times I wanted to kill myself, but always I loved life more. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our worst instincts…In the countries through which I have been forced to wander…I have seen a vast number of people who hated their existence; but I never saw more than a dozen who deliberately put an end to their own misery" (540).

Assuming that Voltaire thinks the old lady is accurate in her statistics, what does Voltaire think this tells us about the human experience? Also, what light does this remark shed on the conclusion of Candide? 

13. "If we stay here, we shall be just like everyone else, whereas if we go back to our own world, taking with us just a dozen sheep loaded with Eldorado pebbles, we shall be richer than all the kings put together, we shall have no more inquisitors to fear, and we shall easily be able to retake Miss Cunegonde" (553).

Does Voltaire think man pursues riches for legitimate reasons, or not?

14. "-What's optimism? said Cacambo. -Alas, said Candide, it is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell" (555).

Does Voltaire see no grounds at all for genuine optimism about mankind's future? Or not? If not, why not? If he does see any grounds for optimism, what are they?

15. "Everywhere the weak loathe the powerful, before whom they cringe, and the powerful treat them like brute cattle, to be sold for their meat and fleece. A million regimented assassins roam Europe from one end to the other, plying the trades of murder and robbery in an organized way for a living, because there is no more honest form of work for them; and in the cities which seem to enjoy peace and where the arts are flourishing, men are devoured by more envy, cares, and anxieties than a whole town experiences when it's under seige" (558).

What cause does Voltaire see at the heart of this social chaos? From among many possibilities, what is the single most destructive force at work?

16. "-Well now, said Candide to Martin, you must agree that this was the happiest of all men, for he is superior to everything he possesses. -Don't you see, said Martin, that he is disgusted with everything he possesses? Plato said, a long time ago, that the best stomachs are not those which refuse all food. -But, said Candide, isn't there pleasure in criticizing everything, in seeing faults where other people think they see beauties? -That is to say, Martin replied, that there's pleasure in having no pleasure?" (574).